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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583559">Another thing to be more human</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fndkch/pseuds/fndkch'>fndkch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: The Next Generation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Humor, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:34:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fndkch/pseuds/fndkch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Data decides he needs a last name, and guess whose? Awkward talk follows.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Data/Geordi La Forge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Another thing to be more human</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My second work on DaForge. That is not how I imagined it, but it turned out the way it did.<br/>I hope you will enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a casual evening at the Enterprise, and senior officers were sitting at Ten Forward, discussing the events of the day. Somehow, the talk came to a dead end and they were just sipping their drinks.</p><p>“Data, why do you have no last name?” Riker asked, in an attempt to keep up the conversation, even though he knew the question was too silly to actually entertain anybody.</p><p>“I am afraid it is a question for my creator, Dr. Soong. I do not know why he chose not to give me a last name,” Data answered.</p><p>“Huh, so you don’t know much about your own origin,” La Forge said. “At least you have something to explore, some sort of a dream.”</p><p>“Geordi, I must remind you that I am not capable of “dreaming” about something. But it is intriguing, indeed.”</p><p>Everyone went quiet again.</p><p>Feeling the awkwardness of sitting in silence, Troi suggested, “Why don’t we call it a night? I’m already falling asleep.”</p><p>“Yeah, I agree. Well, good night everyone!” Riker got up from the table and left, others said goodbyes and went to their quarters, too. They’ve already forgotten about Riker’s question about Data, but Data himself registered a curious thought that crossed his mind. He was definitely going to think about it.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div>In the middle of a night, Geordi’s sleep was interrupted by a doorbell.<p>“Lights, thirty percent,” Geordi said to the computer, as he reached out for his VISOR. “Who the hell can it be?” he murmured to himself. “Come in!”</p><p>Data entered the room.</p><p>“Can I have your last name?” he asked.</p><p>La Forge, still sleepy, didn’t really understand what Data was trying to say. ”Huh?”</p><p>“I asked you, can I have your last name?” Data repeated with the same intonation.</p><p>Then the realisation came to Geordi. Oh. <i>Oh.</i></p><p>He woke up immediately and jumped out of bed.</p><p>“What? Wait, no need to repeat again, I heard you. I mean, uh, why? And why is it so urgent that you showed up in the middle of the night?”</p><p>“I have made a research on importance of last names in human’s lives. Last name, or surname, is a hereditary name common to all members of a family, as distinct from a forename or given name. I concluded, that in an attempt to be more human, I require one, as well,” Data explained himself. “As for “showing up in the middle of the night”, I came because I needed to talk to you. Three months, five days and six hours ago you said “I’ll always be there if you need help” in regard to my attempts at understanding humanity, and I considered it applicable to this situation.”</p><p>“That doesn’t mean you can wake me up whenever you want!” Geordi said crossly, but immediately regretted it.</p><p>“It now seems to me that I have misunderstood. I apologize for the inconvenience, good night.” If Data was able to show or at least feel emotions, he would be disappointed.</p><p>“No, Data, wait, I’m sorry!” La Forge said quickly. “I was just a bit annoyed after waking up, that’s all. Of course, I’m here for you. Now sit down, let’s talk about it. Why don’t you tell me, why exactly do you want my last name?”</p><p>“I have stated my reasons, do you want me to repeat them?” Data usually didn’t ask, but since he was stopped last time, he assumed it would be better to do it.</p><p>“No, I mean, why mine? People usually, um, get married to take someone’s last name.” Geordi blushed as he spoke. “I don’t recall any one of us proposing to another,” he chuckled.</p><p>“Perhaps I have not made my intentions clear. I am proposing to you now, Geordi.”</p><p>La Forge laughed. “Is it one of your attempts at humor?”</p><p>“No, I am quite serious,” Data tilted his head like he did when he was puzzled.</p><p>La Forge abruptly went silent. He was trying to process the whole talk they had. “Wait, let’s make this this clear. You want to marry me, because you want to get a last name, like all people do?”</p><p>“Correct.”</p><p>He blushed again. “Okay… So, why me, Data?”</p><p>“Marriage is legally of formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship. Concluding from my experience, ours can be described as such.”</p><p>“I agree,” Geordi smiled, “but don’t you know that people get married when they’re engaged in a <i>romantic</i> relationship?”</p><p>“Are we not?” Data asked.</p><p>Now Geordi was even more confused. “Oh, well, I wasn’t aware of that,” he smiled awkwardly.</p><p>“I have definitely received various inputs from you that can be treated as romantic. Therefore, I assumed that you want to engage in such a relationship with me.”</p><p>“Actually, I do! It’s just that… Well, I never had the courage to say that, and I thought it could ruin our friendship, and that you can’t do it because you’re an android, and…”</p><p>Data kissed him. It was very sudden, but Geordi managed to gain control over his excitement and leaned into it.</p><p>“Hey, what was that for?” La Forge asked.</p><p>“I assumed you needed it. You were very nervous, and the kiss is often treated as the way to…”</p><p>This time, it was Geordi who initiated the kiss. This one was less awkward, but just as quick as the first.</p><p>“Should I treat this as a start of our romantic relationship? I wish to avoid the previous confusion in the future,” Data said.</p><p>“Yes,” Geordi responded, but then one more thing came to his mind, “if you want it, of course. I never asked how you feel, didn’t I?”</p><p>“You did not. Though we both know I am incapable of  feelings, some of the algorithms that can be considered as them, are activated when you are present.”</p><p>“Aww, you’re such a romantic!” La Forge joked.</p><p>“So, as all the problems are resolved, what is your answer?” Data reminded him about the question that was the reason he was there in the first place.</p><p>“What question?” Geordi had already forgotten about it, as he experienced so many emotions in the last few minutes.</p><p>“Can I have your last name?” Data repeated, again.</p><p>“Yeah, sure! But let’s wait a little bit, you know, usually people don’t get married when they’ve just started dating,” he smiled at him. “And, we’re gonna settle it with captain Picard, because he must call you by your first name to avoid confusion. Imagine, he says "Lieutenant Commander La Forge, to the bridge!” and we both show up,” he laughed.</p><p>“If that situation occurs, he would need to state which one he needs on the bridge,” he almost finished, but Geordi’s grin motivated him to add, “but it is humorous, indeed.”</p>
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